HARRISBURG -- The odds of opening Pittsburgh's North Shore casino by May 2009 could worsen considerably -- with the price tag jumping far past $800 million -- unless state regulators approve the transfer of a slots license from Don Barden to Walton Street Capital Partners in the next six days.

That warning was issued yesterday by Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm, one of the Walton Street investors, and Dan Keating, who's overseeing construction of the casino, at a state Senate hearing here.

Mr. Bluhm also disclosed that he has upped his financial stake in the partially built casino by $50 million, to a total of $170 million.

But he said there are serious dangers if Mr. Barden doesn't repay his $200 million "bridge loan" -- and if the current construction workers aren't paid their three months of overdue wages -- by July 30. Mr. Barden took the bridge loan to keep the project going while he arranged permanent financing.

The state Gaming Control Board must approve the license transfer.

"As this job slips behind for days, or months, or even years, the price of the casino will double -- and that's if the casino is built on its current location. The cost will be even more at another location," said Mr. Keating, who added the price of steel and other construction materials have jumped considerably in recent months.

Mr. Keating said his subcontractors have the right to change -- meaning increase -- their construction prices after July 30. He added that the "subs" haven't been paid since April, and have remained patient as Mr. Barden worked to get additional financing for the casino.

Mr. Bluhm, 70, a billionaire real estate investor, only entered the picture a month ago. He has put together $440 million in financing from Credit Suisse, plus $150 million from two Detroit-based pension funds and his own increased investment, trying to get the casino project back on track.

"Pittsburgh is a great place for this casino project," he said. "It's an excellent opportunity."

But he added that he has plenty of other projects, including casinos in Mississippi and Niagara Falls, to carry out if the board won't transfer Mr. Barden's license to him.

Mr. Bluhm said another advantage of transferring the license to him is that he has agreed to make good on all of Mr. Barden's commitments to Pittsburgh -- including providing $7.5 million a year for 30 years to help finance the Penguins' new hockey arena, along with aid for the Hill District and North Side. If the bidding process begins from scratch, the new casino developer might not agree to honor those commitments, he said.

"The biggest losers, if we don't do this [casino], will be the city of Pittsburgh and the people of Pennsylvania," Mr. Bluhm said.

The only Barden commitment that Mr. Bluhm might not honor is a pledge to automatically increase to 5,000 slot machines within a few years. The casino would open with 3,000 machines, and the number would increase if economics justifies it, meaning if customers demand more slots.

Meanwhile, Mr. Barden's share of the project has slipped from the original 81 percent (the rest being with singer Smokey Robinson and the family of ex-Steelers running back Jerome Bettis) to 25 percent and now to 20 percent, with the increase in the Walton Street share. Mr. Robinson and the Bettis family are no longer investors.

Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, complained that Mr. Bluhm seemed to be "putting a gun to our heads" to transfer the license. Mr. Ferlo and Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, who have advocated a complete rebidding of the license process, said state officials "shouldn't rush to judgment" on the license transfer.

Mr. Bluhm said he wasn't pointing a gun at anyone but was simply stating the current, difficult economic facts of life. With the current subprime mortgage problems and some big lenders close to failing, credit markets are in one of the worst crises in decades, he said, and it's not easy to find lenders to make large amounts of financing available. He said that many gambling companies, not just Mr. Barden's, are having money problems now.

If the gaming board revokes Mr. Barden's license and opens the bidding process, that would likely delay progress a year or two, as detailed background investigations would have to be done on the new bidders.

Mr. Bluhm said he is still hoping the North Shore casino could open by May or June 2009, as Mr. Barden had been forecasting, but such a target depends on a quick transfer of the license and a speedy resumption of construction.

Mary D. Colins, chairwoman of the gaming board, said she wouldn't be bound by any early or artificial timetables.

"Let me be very clear," she told the Senate committee, headed by Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie. "This [gaming] board has not yet deliberated and has not decided any issues with respect to this [license transfer] application. We will not do so until we hear the evidence and consider all of the documentary and oral submissions."

It isn't known when the board will hold what it calls a "suitability hearing" on the new owners or when it will decide.

Mr. Keating was asked if there is any flexibility in the July 30 deadline, and he said there might be "a few days."

"But we need a date certain" when the new transaction -- including the license transfer and the new financing -- will be final, he said. The board also has the option of revoking the license from Mr. Barden if its background investigators should make such a recommendation.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said yesterday he's sticking to his guns regardless of any deadline, and regardless of who emerges as the city's lone slots casino operator.

"I don't know if I'd refer to it as being held hostage," he said. "But we do need to consider what that deadline means."

He said financing deadlines shouldn't dilute the Gaming Control Board's obligation to hear the city's position: that all commitments made related to arena funding, casino design and neighborhood development help be maintained, and that the emerging ownership group proves that it has the money to build and operate the casino.

"We don't want to just continue construction at the expense of a sub-par facility or financing that doesn't work."

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato agreed.

"Timing is very important here regardless of who controls the project. If it gets delayed too long, we're not going to be able to open it in May because the costs of construction are constantly rising," he said.

"Timing is critical. I am going to be applying pressure on the board and try to get them to define a process that will give us an owner."

The city and county are counting on millions in casino host fees to help balance their budgets.

Wednesday night, the rating agency Standard and Poor's issued a B corporate credit rating to the parent firm of Mr. Bluhm's group -- a rating sometimes referred to as "junk bond" grade but common in the gaming industry.

"Gaming projects are, by definition, risky. It's not just this one project," said analyst Craig Parmelee. He said the future of the Pittsburgh casino project would turn, in part, on a rebound for the overall economy and an absence of construction delays.

"If things go OK and they open and demand is relatively good and there's a better economy and there are no delays in construction, then they could fare OK," Mr. Parmelee said.

He added that an estimated 20 to 25 percent of gaming ventures fail within 15 to 20 years, making it one of the higher risk investments. Mr. Parmelee noted that casino projects in St. Louis and the Las Vegas strip had recently failed.

Dan Fee, a Bluhm spokesman, noted that the bulk of lenders are "virtually guaranteed" to get their money back and said Mr. Bluhm's group had tempered many of the risks by putting up a larger amount of capital in the project than had Mr. Barden.

"One of the reasons we're injecting so much equity into the project is to secure its future," Mr. Fee said.